Fresh Politics, New Media

There's a fun article in today's NYT  about  @ElBloombito , the 25 year old native New Yorker, Rachel Figueroa-Levin, who passed time during the storm tweeting about Mayor Bloomberg's attempts at communicating in Spanish. As the article in the NYT notes: "By Sunday morning, @ElBloombito had about 2,000 followers. By Tuesday afternoon, there were nearly 15,000, among them Mr. Bloomberg ( @MikeBloomberg )." Rachel Figueroa-Levin, more commonly known as  @Jewyorican  on Twitter  even exchanged some messages directly with Mayor Bloomberg's staff.  The whole @ElBloombito story and the burst of attention Figueroa-Levin received is a great example of how Twitter and social media can change the communication landscape and bring 15 minutes of fame (or more) for the average American citizen. Seems Twitter has the potential to make newsmakers out of us all.

My top 5 comedy picks for August are now online at Luke Broadwater's  Ridiculous Report , a blog for bthesite.com/ The Baltimore Sun . Here's the video for pick #1: The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Candidate Tent Coverage Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook And here's the video for pick #2, a close second:  The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , Video Archive Learn why I picked these clips and three others as the top political comedy of August 2011 by reading the full blog post, available  here .

Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of The New York Times , has an interesting piece in this Sunday's NYT  Magazine . In the essay, Keller suggests that: "w hen it comes to the religious beliefs of our would-be presidents, we are a little squeamish about probing too aggressively." Keller is correct in making his claim about our reluctance to ask the hard questions regarding religion. In the piece, Keller subsequently argues that we need to ask candidates for honest answers about their religious beliefs, their adherence to religious doctrine and deference to biblical authority, and the influence that religious values and convictions play in shaping attitudes toward science and social policy. In other words, understanding what a candidate believes and how they apply these beliefs to political and national life is of paramount importance. As an academic who studies how religious and ideological value predispositions shape public opinion and political participation , I ca...

For many who live on the East Coast, the quickest way to reach friends and family after the 5.9 earthquake was to send a text message. It seems that prominent politicians around the world are experts in the language of SMS, Twitter, Facebook, etc. (Anthony Weiner notwithstanding of course). The Huffington Post has a great series of entertaining photos of politicians using smart phones, tablets, and yes even feature phones to text. Check out the full series here . My personal favorites: Doesn't Hillary look kind of angry? I really wonder what Howard Dean is looking at in this picture.

President Obama and his family have plans to vacation on Martha's Vineyard later in the month. Some have questioned whether the President should take a vacation while the country is experiencing such economic uncertainty. I offered some commentary on Obama's pending vacation for an article in the Christian Science Monitor  today. The bottom line: Obama should go on vacation ... perhaps it's the American public who needs a vacation from Congress and all things Washington?! In keeping with the theme of this post, I too am about to head off on vacation. See you at the end of the month. In the meantime, here's a picture from Obama's vacation on Martha's Vineyard last summer. I'm glad to see he's wearing a helmet.

Stephen Colbert and his Super PAC are supporting Rick Parry in the Iowa Straw Poll. That's right, PARRY not PERRY. Colbert is encouraging Iowa voters -- in a series of TV ads -- to write "Rick Parry" in on their ballots this weekend, in the effort to continue the quest of "Making A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow." Too bad so many media outlets are suggesting that Colbert and his SuperPAC are supporting Perry with an "E". According to the ads, it's Parry with an "A" for America and Iowa. You don't have to live in Iowa to catch the ads. As with traditional political ads, the reach or impact of the ads is often better measured by subsequent media attention and the number of individuals sharing the content with members of their social network. Simply put, it's not just about viewing the ads on TV in Iowa, but the national attention given to these messages put out by Colbert Super PAC. Check them both out below.

While the media tends to pay greater attention to what presidential candidates say during the early days of primary campaigns, photojournalism and the images of the primary campaign are also particularly important for voters. Two interesting (and scary) photos emerged this week. The first was featured in The New York Times ' coverage of Texas Governor Rick Perry's Christian-themed prayer rally held in Houston over the weekend.  For more, check out this post on  The Caucus . Here's the photo: So much for the separation of church and state ... The second photo is on the cover of Newsweek  and displays a "deer in the headlights" image of candidate Michele Bachmann. Some critics in the media have suggested that the photo is unflattering and that the use of the word "rage" is problematic especially because it appears only on the cover, not in the article. Take a look for yourself. Without question, both candidates represent conservative political...